Daily Advent Devotion for December 20th - Rev. Parker Benson

Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes!
By Rev. Parker Benson

I remember when my first child was born. It was 1974 in Cleveland, Tennessee. In those days men gathered in a waiting room and waited (unlike today when the father and sometimes the whole family go in with the mother during childbirth). I remember pacing the floor in that tiny waiting room eating peanut butter crackers out of a machine and talking with other men—strangers—who were there for the same reason I was: our wives were having a baby!

           

I remember when the nurse brought my baby out:

“Mr. Benson?” she asked.

“That’s me!” I said excitedly.

“You’ve got a little boy,” she said, “Ten little fingers, ten little toes.”

That was 43 years ago and my little boy, Robert Luke, is now fully grown with children of his own. Hard to believe, yet it’s true. Children grow up so fast.

If you have children, I’m sure you too remember the birth of your first child. It is a special day. But isn’t it odd how the whole world remembers and celebrates the birth of one particular child? Every December we remember the birth of Jesus Christ, the most special baby ever to be born.

There were no doctors or nurses or midwives as far as we know. No one called Joseph into the stable and said, “You’ve got a little boy! Ten little fingers, ten little toes!”  Instead, he was told, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” This was no ordinary baby. This was no ordinary birth. In fact, this birth was the most extraordinary birth that has ever occurred! The angel told his mother:

               “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you  

               are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will 

               be called the Son of the Most High…his kingdom will 

               never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)

Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that marvelous? Isn’t it fascinating that everyone starts running around excitedly this time of year, cooking and shopping, baking and decorating, singing and wrapping, telling stories to their children, and putting trees inside their houses? What’s going on? Christmas is all about a baby boy born 2017 years ago: Jesus—the Christ! Ten little fingers, ten little toes!